It is known to provide an integrated universal electric motor and gearbox unit in which the casing of the gearbox has an integral bearing support for the motor shaft. In this known arrangement it is common to have a single stage reduction formed from spur gears. The spur gears usually have teeth formed in a helix to extend the area of tooth engagement and thereby reduce the tooth pressures. The nature of this known unit when used, for example, in a food processor tends to create progressive movement of the food processor along a work surface on which it is standing due to the axial accelerations caused by the stick/slip effects on the mating gears. Moreover, the casing of the gearbox projects radially beyond the confines of the motor itself. This increases the overall radial dimensions of the unit and interferes with the flow of cooling air drawn into the motor by a fan mounted on the motor shaft.